CH 105

Eldest aunt Han, who came to support her mother, was defeated after being told off by Lin Lan.

Han Jinbao and Han Jinyu did not come back. According to the second brother Han, he told his brother to come back under their mother’s insistence when he saw Jinbao. The youngest son merely hummed in reply before trailing after his classmates on his bicycle. As for Jinyu, the second son didn’t even get to see her.

Hence, the two of them did not return, and he didn’t know the reason why either.

Old Lady Han was so angry that she put a medicinal plaster on her head. As her two favorite children did not return home, she was enraged to the point where her puffed up cheeks made her appear like a toad.

Han Yongfang has already brought the Brigade Accountant over. There were also two youngsters from a well-known family who were here to help with the weighing.

Of course, this was also due to Han Yongfang’s relationships. If anyone else were to separate their families, he couldn’t care less as any elder could be the judge of the ration divisions.

However, the old lady assumed that it was an act out of respect for her. She thought that his presence was due to her importance.

“Brother(3), we don’t have much grains at home. Initially, we don’t have enough to sustain till the end, so we still have to rely on the autumn ration’s division,” Old Lady Han was adamant on not giving out a single grain of rice.

(T/N: Chinese culture often can refer to each other as family terms even if they’re not related by blood, sometimes as a term of close bonds or as a term of respect)

Han Yongfang smiled and said, “That’s easy enough to settle.”

The Secretary Head walked two steps towards the back of Old Man Han’s house and said, “There are only a few rooms in this house, so it’s impossible to divide it between four sons and their families. Han Qingsong is an understanding boy as he made the initiative to move out without wanting a house. This action saved a lot of expenses that were supposed to come from your part, so you can reimburse him using funds. As for the rations, divide it according to everyone’s age. In our village, an adult would be allocated 440 catties of food and a child would obtain 360 catties annually.  For the miscellaneous items and smaller issues, we’ll let you handle those on your own accord.”

Old Lady Han clutched her chest, “Brother, where do we get the money? She stole all of the allowances for this season! The remaining food is stored in the big jar, so what else is there to do if we don’t even have enough for our last meal in there? Let’s see how things go.”

House, food, money— everything of theirs was already limited, so what was there to divide?

Han Qingsong couldn’t bear to look at his mother’s acting. Just as he was about to speak, Lin Lan hurriedly said, “That’s better than us leaving without a single form of compensation. Adults can afford to starve just for the other generations, but the five children have growing bodies. They shouldn’t go hungry, so let’s just measure what they deserve to have.”

Upon hearing her words, Han Qingsong swallowed his words. After deciding on everything, it wouldn’t be too late to voice his opinions after. 

The Secretary Head nodded, “As it should be.”

The Accountant listened to the Secretary Head and with the abacus, he calculated the amount required in the blink of an eye. He could calculate the coarse and fine grains clearly as he let the eldest brother of the Han family weigh the rations together with the two men.

Second brother Han and the second sister-in-law watched as so much food was being weighed out. They became anxious, “Is the rest enough for us to eat? Why don’t we weigh our own as well?”